The criticisms of Kohlberg's moral development stages seem to center around three major points, his research methods, the "regression" of stage four, and finally his goals.

The first criticism that I would like to address is that of his research methods. Kohlberg is often criticized for not only his subject selection, but also the methods by which he tries to extricate data from those subjects. His initial study consisted of school boys from a private institution in Chicago. The problem with this is fairly obvious, that this does not represent a significant portion of the population to allow for generalized conclusions. In other words, how can we test some boys from Chicago and ascertain that this is how all people develop worldwide?

I believe that the answer to this criticism comes from the theory that it relates to. Kohlberg's moral development schema is highly dependent upon the idea that there are fundamental truths that cannot be dismissed. These ideas are "in the ether", wound into the very fabric that constructs human nature. Granted, his descriptions of the various stages also seem very dependent upon the surroundings and social institutions that an individ

Another feature of Gilligan's work that I feel should be integrated into the justice theme is that of self-care. When put down in words it seems somewhat egotistical and self-centered. Kohlberg would be interested in self-care only if it contributed to maintaining society. But balancing the needs of the many, and the needs of the few is the hardest part about effectively administering any group of people. Some individuals will have very menial needs, others will say they require luxuries. The key is to provide a method by which all people can fulfill those needs. Self-care will differ significantly between even similar people. So, rather than trying to meet their needs outright, it is better to just provide a chance by which they can provide for themselves. Thus achieving a balance between self-care and still allotted care for others. (I know, I'm drawing the democracy parallelism again, sorry!)

My defense of this situation comes from a lack of a suitable alternative. True moral dilemmas are not only rare, but extremely hard to document. When faced with a situation that demands not only one's complete attention, but emotional vigor, it is really hard to find time to document or discuss feelings (let alone the motivation to do so!). For example, looking at the Heinz dilemma, it would be very hard to explain why one was chasing a man around while he tried to find a cure for his dying wife. An even less enticing alternative would be trying to sit him down and discuss how he was feeling.

By carefully combining the features of two very different stages, we have come up with a system that is better suited to meeting the needs of a population. Unfortunately, it was invented hundreds of years ago, and implemented in the United States Constitution. Granted, it does not work perfectly, but it seems a suitable compromise when considering the alternatives. It may be a slow process, and one that can be abused to fit one's needs, but it is the only one that incorporates the individual into the molding of the system.

Another aspect of caring that I would like to bring into the "justice world" is included in level three, the highest level of caring. It states that there are absolutely no black or white issues. What might be correct for one person, is not necessarily the same for another. This would fill a huge hole in the Kohlberg moral development system. Justice is largely criticized because it "forces" everyone into a social group. It then slaps some rules down, and expects that they are applicable to everyone. Gilligan states that this is not true, but rather, everything is a shade of gray. Be careful though! This does not mean that rules are now not applicable to anyone. Rather, it states that we must use our judgement when considering transgressions of the law. There may be special circumstances that need to be addressed.

With my previous point in mind, I would like to move onto the idea that the levels of caring are actually a regression from previous stages. This assumption comes from comparisons of Kohlbergian stage three attributes, with that of Gilligan's care stages. Stage three (Kohlberg) seems to represent the "Prince Valiant" of personalities. One should work towards becoming a better person, fulfill societal requirements, forgive transgressions, and exhibit constant unadulterated pacifism. It truly seems to be a noble individual, the likes of which exist only in fairy tales and fantasy novels. Stage one of caring then comes along, representing a more introspective, self-interested individual. This new person is very afraid of hurt from others, and does everything within his/her power to avoid it. In fact, this includes not reaching out to others in any way, so that there is no chance of being scarred.

So, imagine that we could take stage four, plop in into a blender, add some stage three, and come out with an even better system. What would we do? This is the next question to be addressed. Looking at stage three's

Some common words found in the essay are:
Care Justice, Moral Development, Prince Valiant, Constitution Granted, Carol Gilligan's, Natural Law, Third Reich, Ms Gilligan, Using Kohlberg's, Finally Kohlberg's, moral development, golden rule, social contract, social system, stage three's, stage stage, caring oneself, research methods, regression stage, real world, agreed social contract, kohlberg's moral development,
Approximate Word count = 5369
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page double spaced)